Feetz Tribike: The Kid Carrying, Cargo Hauling, Folding Trike

Last week we posted a round-up of 22 extended frame cargo bikes. Previously we've also collected up a passel of 16 tricycles. Yet still we've managed to neglect a few. The Feetz is such a vehicle. It's trike for transporting kids or cargo. One that folds up into a shopping trolley, without adjusting the cargo hold or child seat.Image: Lennart Design.

As a prototype, known by the moniker 'Shopcycle' it scooped a 2005 James Dyson Award for Sustainable Design from 23 other contenders. It was also selected as a product for the Re-Fuse Sustainable Design exhibition in the same year run under the auspices of the Delft University of Technology.

Produced at Lelystad, Netherlands, the Feetz, ('fiets' being Dutch for bicycle) sports a patented hinge arrangement that sees the seat tube fold, and rear wheel move forward under the cargo area to create a hand trolley suitable for wheeling around the shops.

Industrial designer, Lennart Visser, appears to come up with a design, that from a distance, looks like it addresses many of the functional demands of a cargo bike.

Open up the frame and bingo! a groovy trike, which leans into corners, just like two wheeled bicycles (akin to the Tripendo). The three wheel standard Feetz, with its handmade aluminium frame and Sturmey Archer 5 speed hub gearing, weighs in at 28 kgs.

Photo: Feetz.

There are also several models of four wheeled Feetz available, although these don't have the dynamic steering lean of the trike.

See the YouTube video of the Feetz trike in action.

Available direct from Feetz in the Netherlands, or through dealers like CycleSense in the UK, who currently have their demo bike on sale for £1,200, a saving of £500. Or try eMotors in California, USA>